The implementation of the Africa Union – European Union Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) Roadmap of 2016, is expected to be improved through the setting up of a platform of an alliance of stakeholders (including funders) with a long-term and sustainable governance and funding mechanism, and a knowledge management and communication system that will inform policy makers and other major FNSSA actors. This role of setting up of a long-term platform was mandated to the European Union Horizon 2020 Coordination & Support Action (CSA) project: the Long Term European African Partnership for Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (LEAP4FNSSA) project which started in 2018 and is expected to close end of this month, October 31, 2022. Associated with the LEAP4FNSSA mandate, was an imperative to move from ‘partnership to platform’. This move is underpinned by the decisive action by the AU-EU cooperation on research and innovation to make a clear shift from discrete projectized approach to a continuous programmatic frame that elicits sustainability within a long-term perspective.

After four years of its implementation, important achievements have been made that provided the important building blocks for the transformation of the existing collaborations into a more structured Platform for collaboration - The International Research Consortium. The IRC was successfully launched in September, 2022 under the aegis of AU-EU High level Policy Dialogue (HLPD). The launch marked the final deliverable of the LEAP4FNSSA project.

Implications of the IRC launch

The International Research Consortium (IRC) is to be set up as a bi-continental platform linking all actors in research and innovation in Africa and Europe to advance a science-led growth in sustainable food and nutrition security based on equity and common priority agendas and generating global spill-overs. Its uniqueness is routed in its long-term bi-continental nature closely linked to the main policy process of the AU-EU cooperation on research and innovation- the HLPD represented by the AUC, EC, and their Member States. The IRC will connect existing structures, such as regional and sub- regional organisations or partnerships on research and innovation towards increasing their coherence and impact, hence acting as a network of networks.

The IRC launch also implied three critical factors required for the operationalization of the IRC. These include; 1. A document describing the structures of the IRC and guidelines for its establishment

2. A growing number of institutions that have signed Declarations of Intent by the highest authority, to join the IRC. A larger proportion (80%) of these institutions have worked together for four years and therefore share a matured partnership.

3. The development of tangible structures, processes and competencies required to kickstart the establishment of the IRC

Transitioning to the implementation of the IRC

The full operationalisation of the IRC is expected to start late 2023. This transition period of nearly one year which offers a good opportunity to fully prepare for a smooth transition for an effective start-up phase. Optimum outcomes of these actions will, however, depend on establishing effective linkages among the actions.

Fourty (40) institutions across Europe and Africa have currently signed ‘Declarations of Intent’ to join the IRC. Also, the momentum generated at the launch of the IRC and the continued interest of research and innovation stakeholders in the IRC need to be facilitated and sustained. Country level membership to elicit domestic funds from Member States should be fostered for a healthy start-up of the IRC. The LEAP4FNSSA project developed and bequeathed tools, databases and competencies to the IRC, including the KEOPS and KM tools, Project database, D-Groups and website. Based on these, three broad transitionary actions are anticipated. These include; 1. A set of actions to position the IRC membership for an effective start-up, 2. Actions to maintain the tangible structures and processes required to kickstart the establishment of the IRC 3. Development of companion guidelines and reference material to enable timely operationalization of the IRC.

The outlook for the IRC on the future impact of FNSSA policy and impact is very positive. The IRC is expected to catalyse and galvanise necessary collective actions that will ensure resolution of the perennial fragmentation that have undermined the expected impact of the multitude of research and innovation initiatives, programmes and projects and investments in the past decades.

Nutrition Security

My Food Is African: Healthy Soil, Safe Foods And Diverse Diets
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) has published “My Food is African: Healthy Soil, Safe Foods, and Diverse Diets,” a new book in the Barefoot Guide Agroecology Series. The goal is to enable readers to explore the question of how to eat more healthily. Using a variety of methods as stories, illustrations, information boxes and fact sheets, it guides readers towards the behavior changes needed.
(via Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa)

Food Security

Int. Day of Rural Women: For Effective Climate Action, We Must Empower Women
International Day of Rural Women 2022 took place on October 15th under the theme: ‘Rural Women Cultivating Good Food For All’ – it celebrates the women who are the backbone of agriculture in Africa and beyond. For real climate act
(via Self Help Africa)

Sustainable agriculture

Africa’s climate emergency: a call for adaptation and resilience throigh agroecology to COP27 and beyond
In Africa’s farmlands, a positive transformation has already begun. To increase the productivity of their fields, diversify their crops, improve their nutrition, and build climate resilience, family farmers are increasingly combining modern ideas and scientific research with traditional wisdom. With the addition of digital technologies, more market connections, and increased efficiency along agri-food chains, this change may go much further, especially if the private sector and government policies support the endeavor.
(via Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa)


Find out more on the Agora!

Authors: Maria Maia and Patricia Wagenmakers

Take Away Messages

The IRC needs to:

Achieve national, regional, global targets together, Be a network of networks, Get commitment at the level of institutions, Provide incentives for funders, Implement actions in operational working groups, Show short- term results, Include the new political agreements: African Free Trade Agreements, EU Green Deal, AU-EU Innovation Agenda, STISA...

Challenges
Dealing with diversity: We are not on the same page with certain thematic priorities, Equal footing

Dealing with private sector: Include a business approach; let the private sector, incl. farmers, define their needs (co-creation, multi-actor approach)

Dealing with co-funding (governments vs (big) business...)
Dealing with different regions: Organize the work through regional clusters (link with regional CGIAR etc)
Dealing with other networks: avoid duplication

Key messages

• Connect with existing structures

• dd

• Create complementarities!

• Include co-funding partners from both continents

• Reduce fragmentation (Team Europe...)

• Create a sustainable structure for impact on the ground

• We need this partnership now as a catalyst for the food system

Author: Peter Rosendal Dau Jensen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen (LEAP4FNSSA)

In the light of the recent launch of the International Research Consortium (IRC) on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA), questions and guidelines for future work and research emerge. This article summarises the main recommendations for the IRC, derived from an expert workshop on trade, innovation and entrepreneurship, organised by the LEAP4FNSSA WP1 (Task 1.3). The workshop took place on September 13 (2022) in Accra, Ghana, and brought together experts and key stakeholders of the LEAP4FNSSA project from Africa and Europe. The objective of the workshop was to discuss the findings of two recently conducted studies: one on agrifood trade between the EU and Africa and the other on innovation and entrepreneurship with special reference to gender and youth. The authors of the two studies, as well as four invited experts discussed the studies, with inputs from in-person and virtual workshop participants from across the world.

The below recommendations are broad but all related to research and innovation (R&I) on agricultural trade and entrepreneurship. They concern the improvement of FNSSA, the fostering of an enhanced understanding of agrifood trade, and the improved inclusion of women and youth in R&I for FNSSA. The recommendations may be useful to all IRC members engaged with research and innovation on agrifood trade or entrepreneurship for improved FNSSA.

Recommendation 1: Consider local and contextual settings

Considering the local and contextual setting of a case area is crucial to make R&I that fosters improved FNSSA. Context matters, both in relation to the effects of trade, and when seeking to include women and youth. Specific crops, grown in specific countries, have specific opportunities for improving FNSSA. In order to establish policies that foster impactful development, there is a need to understand the particular local context and the specific value chains at stake. This further requires more and coordinated value chain studies of crops with particular potentials to enrich the foundation of policymaking. Furthermore, a contextual approach is important to enhance the inclusion of women and youth in R&I, as gender constraints are embedded in local norms and environments. This goes hand in hand with a need to invest in transformative gender and youth approaches that foster gender equality and enhance the capacities of women and youth.

Recommendation 2: Recognise the scalar dimension of agriculture

Another and closely related key issue is the scalar dimension of agriculture. Policy recommendations should be developed at different scales: continental, regional, national, and local. Different scales require different solutions to obtain the wished outcome of improved FNSSA. Scaling up and down is an issue that both researchers and policy makers should consider, as spatial diversity and heterogeneity may cause severe challenges to positive impacts on the ground. Scaling up is not always the right thing to pursue.

Recommendation 3: Understand sustainability beyond production and consumption

In order to ensure R&I that fosters FNSSA on the ground, the future IRC should further take stock of research that incorporate sustainability beyond production and consumption, i.e. taking into account the sustainability of agrofood handling, storage, distribution – each node of the value chain from soil to table. This includes identifying a standardised set of proxies to properly measure sustainability and improved FNSSA. Research however, should not be limited to formal value chains but further take into account improved FNSSA for subsistence farmers, as well as improving understanding of the role of informal cross-border trade and the market interactions that support these patterns. Moreover, research should be pro-active and try to incorporate future challenges and possibilities to overcome them.

Recommendation 4: Incorporate long-term trends and impacts

Finally, it is recommended to incorporate the long-term trends and impacts catalysed by recent global issues (e.g. COVID-19, Russia’s war on Ukraine). Such global issues provide important lessons for future agriculture and cannot simply be regarded as short-term events. Rather they need to be considered as trends affecting agricultural practices in the long term. This means that new terms should come to dominate in development policy discourse such as self-sufficiency, food sovereignty, agro-ecology, etc. If we wish to encourage the inclusion and secure employment of women and youth, as well increase quality and standard compliance among African agrifood producers, we need to incorporate resilience to such shocks and take measures of their temporality.

Source: Dr. Vincenzo Lorusso, European Commission |  DG Research & Innovation

Policy Shifts Required to Substantially Finance Research and Innovation in Africa

Dr. Irene Frempong- FARA, the coordinator of the LEAP4FNSSA started by presenting the IRC and its final manuscript, then Dr. Vincenzo Lorusso from the European Commission presented the joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda and potential role of the IRC to support it and finally Oyewaly Abioye- IITA presented insights from the LEAP4FNSSA expert workshop on innovation and reflected on the AU-EU Innovation Agenda. Below are the key messages from the webinar:

The joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda:

• An ambitious, unprecedented joint initiative aiming to foster the translation of R&I endeavours into tangible products, services, businesses and jobs.

• Short-, medium- and long-term set of actions, according to four joint priority areas: Public Health, Green Transition, Innovation & Technology, and Capacities for Science.

  The role(s) of the IRC in the AU-EU Innovation Agenda:

• An enabler, promoter and catalyst through Projects & Programmes, and funding

• A capacity creator and builder through Human development and Research infrastructures

• A Network-maker with Stakeholders & Organisations (across sectors)

• A stock-taker through Projects & Programmes

• A forward-looking strategic reference for Stakeholders & Organisations

• A steady interlocutor for the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on STI

• A guarantor of coherence, alignment and synergies through Actions vis-à-vis Policy

The IRC Platform has been officially launched during the main event “Founding Launch of the IRC” held in Accra on the 14 and 15 September.
This event represented an important step towards achieving our ambitious goal.

The IRC Platform is ready to host all the actors involved in the FNSSA sector and it is expected to address four specific objectives:

1. Increase the synergies and coherence among actors, research and innovation projects, initiatives and programmes, through the development of institutional alliances and clusters of projects and expertise;

2. Develop a learning environment and a large knowledge base, including monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) activities, creating communication and links between different initiatives to improve STI cooperation;

3. Establish a long term and sustainable coordination infrastructure, governance and funding mechanism;

4. Liaise with the HLPD.

Now it’s time to continue cooperate and further enhance the efforts within and outside the LEAP4FNSSA project.
Read/download the IRC Manuscript.